Papa House Finch and the Twins

Fledglings are out and about this morning, creating quite a ruckus in the back yard.  I had the window open, the better to get photos, when there was a sudden scrabbling, and a baby squirrel peered in the window at me!  

"Hey, what are you doing??" I inquired.  

He stared for a minute, then his mouth worked (I think he said, "Don't mind me, I was just going,"), and he scampered away just as his mother came to round him up and shepherd (squirrel?) him off to safety.

{By the way, some of my friends didn't realize they could click on the pictures to enlarge them, and then use the arrows on their keyboards to navigate through the rest of the photos.  Give it a try -- the photos are more enjoyable in the larger size!  (One drawback:  the captions are not visible when the photo is enlarged.  Blogspot needs to fix that.)}

Waiting for Papa Finch

Here he is; he's back!  "Me, me, feed me!"

Fledgling on the top bar flies to the bottom, the better to attract dad's attention.

Dad lectures:  "Wait your turn!"

Watch youngster on the left struggling to wrangle that seed into his mouth.

(Actually, the male is regurgitating seeds for the young.)

Somehow, the seed winds up on top of baby's beak.

"Okay, I waited.  Now can I have a bite?"

Papa watches his birdling, as he nearly drops the seed.  Bird parents wouldn't have to work so hard, if babies wouldn't drop so much of their food on the ground!

The self-centered fledgling thinks, Maybe if I hop back up here beside dad... while his brother (or sister), meanwhile, tussles with his seed.

"Here I am, see me?"  ... but Papa Finch is watching the lower baby trying to get a grip on his seed.  And look!  He's using the bar to catch it, reposition it...

... and he's able to pick it up again.  

So Papa Finch turns his attention to the young'n making the most noise.

Lower baby works at his regathered seed... while upper baby screams on.

"Here!  Take this!  And hush!"

"Me more!  Me more!  Me more!"

"Okay, here!"  (glup)

A grackle moves in, so the finches move out.

The grackles moves on; the finches return.  And that same demanding kid, impatient for another bite, chirps and screeches -- and then jumps right on dad's back!  Papa Finch flies off in a huff.

"Oops.  Crossed the line there, didn't I."

"Maybe if I look pathetic..."

"How's this?"

"Add a little cuteness..."

"Oh!  Da!  You comin' back?!"

A female Northern cardinal lands on the feeder.

Sure enough, Papa Finch did return.

"Bite!  Bite!  Bite!  Hungry!  Hungry!  Hungry!"

It seems Papa Finch doesn't hold grudges.

He continues the unending job of trying to fill up the kid.

Time out to squawk at the paparazzi.

Baby is concerned only with his stomach.

"Will this tyke ever get full?"

Baby watches as Papa flies off in search of a few tasty bugs to add to his diet.  Only the adults eat insects; they feed their young exclusively plant food.  Sometimes the male heads into the nesting tree with a mouthful of seeds and insects, evidently to feed his mate, who must be incubating a second clutch of eggs.